On September 11, Golden State Warriors icon Stephen Curry got candid with Matt Sullivan of The Rolling Stone regarding all of the trade rumors pertaining to his former teammate Kevin Durant this summer. According to Sullivan, Curry, who discussed the Durant rumors with Snoop Dogg, was skeptical Durant would get what he wanted with his trade request from the Brooklyn Nets.
“Curry suggested that Durant had unrealistic expectations that his preferred destinations would retain superstar rosters, despite Brooklyn’s high asking price,” Sullivan said.
Curry used the Boston Celtics, a team that had been linked to Durant, as an example. According to Sullivan, Curry said that getting Durant would have required Boston trading Jaylen Brown, among others, which would have been a major shakeup in Curry’s eyes because of how “pivotal” Brown is.
“Of the Boston Celtics, he said, ‘They have a little bit of everything, but they would have to deal with the organizational transition to get rid of Jaylen (Brown). He’s such a pivotal piece.… If they would have done that—’ Curry broke apart his fingertips in an explosion and agreed with Snoop that Durant was better off staying with the Nets.”
On July 25, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Celtics had offered Brown to the Nets for Durant, which had been rejected.
Sources: The Boston Celtics have offered a Jaylen Brown package to the Nets for Kevin Durant, which Brooklyn turned down and countered.
Full details on a potential Celtics-Nets mega-deal to be had, latest on Donovan Mitchell and more at the Inside Pass:
Curry Would Welcome Durant Back
According to Sullivan, Curry told The Rolling Stone on August 9 that there had been conversations about bringing back Durant.
“There was a conversation internally amongst us about ‘If he was available, would you?’ Every team has those conversations, and obviously, in our situation, they’re gonna call me and ask me, ‘How do you feel about it?’” Curry told Sullivan.
Curry then explained he was all for bringing Durant in for another go-round.
“I was never hesitant. The idea of playing with KD and knowing who he is as a person, from our history in those three years, I think KD’s a really good dude. I think he is misunderstood. I think he has had certain things happen in his life that hurt his ability to trust people around him, in a sense of making him feel safe at all times. So all of those things, I understand, having played with him and gotten to know him. I love that dude.
“And if you said, ‘Oh, KD’s coming back, and we’re gonna play with him,’ I had so much fun playing with him those three years, I’d be like, ‘Hell, yeah!’”
Durant to the Celtics was ‘Never Remotely Close’
Both Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported the Celtics’ interest in Durant on July 25. After Durant rescinded his trade request on August 23, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe reported on September 6 that Boston never got any traction on a deal for Durant because the Nets weren’t planning to trade him.
“League sources insisted for weeks that the Nets seemed to have no intention of actually trading Durant, as evidenced by some outrageous asking prices that at least provided some good laughs. Boston, for one, was never remotely close to a deal for Durant. Onward.”
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Stephen Curry Sounds Off on Celtics Star After Trade Rumors